Seniors' SUCCESS TOOLKIT

Knowledge and regulation of our thinking during learning is the distinction made between what metacognition is and how it functions (Flavell, 1979, 1987; Schraw & Dennison, 1994).  
Metacognition as an important concept in understanding how students learn is attributed to the research of John Flavell who is the noted founder of this field. Conceptualized as thinking about one’s own thinking, metacognition leads to deeper learning through a process of managing the   retention, transfer, and motivation of informational learning material. Such processes allow students to achieve academic success by thinking independently, organizing essential pieces of information, and changing strategies as necessary. Without mastering metacognitive skills students experience frustration and lower academic performance.

 
Metacognition requires awareness of what one understands and doesn’t understand as well as the capability to manipulate essential cognitive processes (Meichenbaum, 1985). Problem solving strategies progress toward automaticity as students practice learning tasks such as goal setting, classification and connecting pre-knowledge, re-reading for comprehension, self-evaluating and self-correction. Also critical is the recognition of the demands of the learning task and selection of the most appropriate approach to successful achievement of the learning goals. Students become more confident as they integrate metacognition into their academic identity. This confidence supports further engagement and success in higher educational and business endeavors.